Buckle-shield.



No. 720,201. PATENTED FEB. 10, 1903.-

D. lE. WHITE.

BUCKLE SHIELD.

APPLIoATIoN FILED MAY 1e. 1902.

I0 IODEL.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID E. WHITE, OF VVINCHESTER, KANSAS.

BUCKLE-SHIELD.

SPEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 720,201, dated February 10, 1903. Application filed May 16. 192. `Serial No. 107,622. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom, it may concern.

Be it known that I, DAVID E. WHITE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Winchester, in the county of Jefferson and State of Kansas, have invented a new and useful Buckle-Shield, of which the following is a specification. A This invention relates to buckles, and particularly to harness-buckles, and has for its object to provide for shielding and covering the tongues of buckles, so that they may not oier projections to be 'caught in parts of the harness.

A particular improvement over other devices resides in having the shield independent of the buckle and capable of 'being applied to any strap in position for convenient engagement with the buckle to cover the tongue thereof.

Another object is to provide for conveniently securing the shield to a strap so that it may be adjusted thereon with respect to the buckle to occupy a position for convenient engagement with and disengagement from the buckle and also capable of being removed from the strap and applied to another strap whenever desired.

With these and other objects in view the present invention consists in the combination and arrangements of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings,and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changesin the form, proportion, size, and minor details may be made Within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a buckle and connected straps having the present form of shield permanently applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view thereof. Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the shield detachably connected to a strap. Fig. 4 is a detail-perspective View of a pair of adjacent straps, one of which has a shield detachably connected thereto and the other permanently secured. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the loop or slide for connecting the shield to a strap.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

y To fully illustrate the application and operation of the present device, I have shown `in the accompanying drawings an ordinary buckle 1, having the usual pivotal tongue 2 and a strap 3, connected to theintermediate bar of the buckle in the ordinary manner, and another strap 4, engaged with the buckle. These parts are common and well known, and therefore may vary considerably in form, particularly the buckle, the only essential parts of which are the pivotal tongue and an end bar or loop with which the shield may engage to hold it to the buckle.

In carrying out the invention IV employ a short 'length of strap 5 tov form the shield proper, and this shield-strap is secured to the strap 4 either permanently or detachably, as will be hereinafter described. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the shield-strap has been permanently secured in place by means of a rivet 6, and I also contemplate connecting the `two straps by stitching wherever it may be permanently fastened at its rear end, thepoint of attachment should be at a considerable distance from the free end of the strap, so as to give sufficient play to the shield-strap for engaging the same with the buckle. In View of the Vconsiderable distance between the point of attachment of the shield-strap and its point of engagement with the buckle it is necessary to hold the intermediate portion of the strap against looseness vin order that it may not become disengaged from the buckle, and therefore I employ a ,loop or slide 7, embodying a flat plate 8, having opposite terminal laterally deected or inclined loops or eyes 9 and 10 and a stud 11, pro- ICO jected from the center of the plate, the stud and the loops directed at the same side of the plate. 'Ihe free ends of the main strap and the shield-strap are passed through the eyes of the loop or slide, and the stud 11 is passed through the ordinary corresponding perforations in the strap members, so as to hold the slide or loop against endwise movements, the terminal loops or eyes holding the two straps in mutual engagement, so as to obviate looseness of the intermediate portion of the shieldstrap. The portions of the straps between the opposite ends of the loop or slide may be drawn outwardly from the stud 11 to permit endwise adjustment of the loop or slide to any desired position upon the straps, it being preferable to have the loop or slide lie comparatively close to the buckle, so as to prevent displacement of the free end ofthe shieldstrap. As the loop or slide is adjustable, it may occupy any position between the permanent attachment 6 and the buckle 1 and is designed to be withdrawn from the buckle toward the permanent attachment 6 when it is desired to remove the free end of the shieldstrap from the buckle.

In some instances it may not be desirable to permanently fasten the shield-strap, and therefore I contemplate having the shieldstrap detachably connected to the main strap, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, wherein the slide or loop 8 is employed as the means for fastening the shield-strap to the main strap by inverting the loop or slide, so that the shield-strap is held between the body or plate portion 8 and the main strap, whereby the stud or projection 11, passing through corresponding openings in the straps, forms the detachable connection. When the shieldstrap is detachably connected, itis somewhat shorter than when it is permanently attached, for the reason that the loop or slide 8 forms the connection between the two straps and should lie as near as possible to the buckle in order that there may be comparatively little looseness of the shield-strap between the slide or loop and the buckle. By the employment of the loop or slide as the sole fastening for the shield-strap the latter may be applied to any strap ina very convenient and effective manner without requiring that the strap be riveted or stitched. Another advantage of using the loop or slide as the sole attachment resides in the fact that the shield may be adjusted to any desired position upon the strap 4, so as to be in proper relation with respect to the buckle at whatever point it may occupy with respect to the strap 4, while in the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the buckle must engage with the strap 4 at some point between the free end thereof and the permanent attachment 6.

In Fig. 6 of the drawings I have shown a comparatively broad harness-strap 12, which is longitudinally split or bifurcated to form narrow terminal strap members 13 and 14, of which the strap 13 is engaged with a buckle 15, carried by the strap 16, and the shieldstrap 17 is connected to the strap 13 by a loop or slide 7, as hereinbefore described, while the other strap 14 forms a shield for the tongue of a buckle 18, carried by the strap 19 and engaged with the short strap member 20, which is permanently connected to the under side of the strap 12 in any suitable manner, either by stitches 2l or by a rivet, as may be desired. As the shield-strap is permanently connected to the strap 20, it is necessary to employ the loop or slide 7 to prevent looseness of the intermediate portion of the shield-strap, as hereinbefore described for the form shown in Figs. l and 2 of the drawings.

What I claim is- 1. The combination with a buckle having end and intermediate cross-bars, andatonguc hinged to theintermediatecross-bar and lying upon one of the end bars, and a strap to engage with the tongue of the buckle, of a shield carried by the strap independently of the buckle and lying across and covering the tongue of the buckle, and having a flexible terminal portion passed beneath the farthermost end bar of the buckle.

2. The combination with a buckle and a strap for engagement with the tongue of the buckle, of a flexible shield carried by the strap independently of the buckle and adapted to be passed over the tongue of the buckle and under one of the end bars thereof, and a loop or slide embracing the strap and the shield and having a projection engaging corresponding openings therein to detachably connect the shield to the strap.

3. The combination with a buckle and a strap adapted to engage the buckle, of a loop or slide embodying a plate having a stud and opposite terminal loops or eyes slidably receiving the strap, and a shield-strap embraced between the body of the loop and the main strap with the stud projected through corresponding openings in the two straps, the free end of the shield-strap being adapted to cover the tongue of the buckle and to pass beneath the outermost end bar thereof.

4. A strap adapted for engagement with a buckle, and provided with a buckle-shield comprising an endwise-shiftable loop embracing the strap and provided with a stud to project through an opening in the strap, and a shield-strap having its rear end embraced between the body of the slide and the main strap and pierced by the projection of the loop.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

DAVID E. WHITE.

Witnesses:

A. L. MCDERMOND, S. R. WHITE.

IOO 

